I was recently very honoured to speak at the launch of The City University 2024 Law Review. The Editorial team of the City Law student’s own academic publication run by Alexander Cleveland Ng and others demonstrated how The City Law Review was created as another font of independent critical thinkers adding to the wealth of existing academic resources which ultimately enables practitioners to function in court. As every lawyer well knows, an entire case can turn upon the discovery of 1 academic work even when contained within a foot note which leads that lawyer upon a chain of further enquiry ..read more

   By Dr Stephen Castell CITP MEWI and Jonathan Bolls, Attorney at Law  Abstract The Law Commission’s proposed Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2024, seeking to create a new categorisation of cryptocurrencies as property, is unnecessary. ‘Crypto’ is an algorithmic data object, an unremarkable example of, and exactly like, any such assemblage of digitally created and recorded 1s and 0s. The Law Commission has again misunderstood the essential technical truths of computer science. It is attempting to put in place another egregious legal construct potentially as damaging as its 19 ..read more

By Malcolm Trotter, global education and training professional If you are going to invest in yourself and your legal future career prospects by studying to gain a recognised qualification, this will come at a cost both financially and in the commitment of your time and effort. When making an investment (or any expenditure), you really want to be sure that the future value you will receive is likely to exceed what you have put in. So what are the potential benefits to be gained from achieving qualifications? Will they be worth the investment? Before looking at what the range of benefits flowing ..read more

By Mike Taylor, Managing Director, i-Lit Limited  Introduction Professor Karim Lakhani of Harvard Business School helpfully contextualises AI technology when he states, “Just as the internet has drastically lowered the cost of information transmission, AI will lower the cost of cognition.” On 30th January 2024 the Information and Technology Panel of the Bar Council released a document called “Considerations when using ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence software based on large language models”. Its purpose was to “assist barristers in understanding the technological basis ..read more

Edward Henry KC of Mountford Chambers is a highly experienced legal commentator for TV, radio, online articles, and newspapers who is representing 5 former sub postmasters/mistresses at the Post Office Horizon Inquiry. He is available to speak with journalists, editors, and TV researchers on all topics relating to criminal law and matters which have social justice issues at the heart of them. Unlike many other barristers, he is comfortable speaking with the press, in a manner that is  engaging, eloquent and authoritative. He has appeared on BBC News, BBC Newsnight, Sky News, ITV News, IT ..read more

Louis Browne KC from Exchange Chambers appeared before the First Tier Tribunal – Criminal Injuries Compensation, representing the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and also acted as amicus curiae (“friend of the court”). The case concerned an application made under paragraph 13 of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 1990 to reconsider a case involving a young woman who has substantially outlived her life expectancy. The 1990 Scheme is a forerunner of the tariff schemes now in place. It is a non-statutory ex gratia scheme which was created under prerogative powers and designed ..read more

    By Anna Rubbi,  Guernica 37 Chambers How do UK sanctions against Russia measure up against international law, and the principles of state sovereignty and non-intervention in? Has the UK sufficiently justified the imposition of unilateral sanctions by reference to international law? Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is undeniably an egregious breach of international law deserving condemnation and action from the international community, but international law should not be put to one side when its rules become an inconvenience. Unilateral “sanctions”, usually of an economic nature ..read more

Bar Council media briefing Thursday 28 March 2024 Ministry of Justice statistics   The latest quarterly Ministry of Justice official statistics on were published today (Thursday 28 March 2024). Commenting on the data, Sam Townend KC, Chair of the Bar Council, said: “It is disappointing that there is still no progress made on reducing the backlog in the Crown Court. The Government target remains to reduce the backlog down to 53,000 by the end of November, but this is looking vanishingly unlikely. “Further investment and support for the justice system is desperately needed. Whilst we a ..read more

The recent BBC investigation into Employee Assistance Providers (EAPs)[i], has forced organisations within the legal industry to evaluate how they are supporting employee mental health and to consider alternative approaches that allow their employees to access much needed and effective professional support. Employee mental health has garnered increasing attention in recent years, especially since the pandemic, with stress, depression and anxiety areas of particular concern. Working within law is highly pressurised and competitive and this brings challenges that can exacerbate issues aroun ..read more

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published our  annual Business Plan which explains what we shall be doing during 2024-25 to take forward our strategic aims, as set out in the BSB Strategy 2022-2025. The full Plan can be downloaded here. In what is the final year of our current three-year strategy, we shall continue to reform our regulatory capability while also completing strategic programmes of work aimed at maintaining high professional and ethical standards at the Bar and promoting both diversity and access. We are continuing to focus on achieving operationa ..read more